14 DAY TRIAL // People that are both black and gay could be seen as having a tough life. Rejection from all sides. But a research made at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations, blacks and Latinos did not find them to have more mental issues than their white counterparts.
This contradicts the theory that stress linked to prejudice of racism and homophobia would make this category more vulnerable to mental disorders. On the contrary, the Mailman School research encountered this category of people as having less mental disorders than white individuals, while Latinos had rates similar to those of the whites. "These findings suggest that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals have effective ways to cope with prejudice related to racism and homophobia", said lead researcher Dr. Ilan H. Meyer, associate professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health.
The research was made on 388 white, black and Latino New York City residents, aged 18 - 59, all lesbian, gay, or bisexual, in a study that is the first of its kind. But unlike in the case of mental disorders, when it comes to severe suicide attempts, more black and Latino gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals experienced a history of such issues, compared to their white counterparts. "Because these suicide attempts occurred at an early age, typically during the teenage, we can speculate that they coincided with a coming-out period and were related to the social disapprobation afforded to lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities," said Meyer.
This comes to demonstrate that there are higher problems in Black and Latino communities when it comes to the attitude towards lesbians, gay men, and bisexual youth. "In the absence of higher prevalence of mood disorders in this population, these findings pose challenge to mental health professionals. If this is indeed the case, public health professionals should address what prevention efforts are required to reduce suicide risk among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths in these communities", Meyer said.
Across all race/ethnic categories, younger groups of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (aged 18 - 29 and 30 - 44 compared to aged 45 - 59) had decreased rates for almost all mental issues, especially mood disorders, and also fewer serious suicide attempts (especially those aged 30-44). "The finding regarding younger cohorts of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals is consistent with social stress theories that predicted that the liberalization of social attitudes toward homosexuality over the past few decades can lead to a decline in stress and related mental disorders and suicide among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual individuals", said Meyer.
Other researchers linked the bisexual identity to higher use of substances but not with anxiety or mood disorders, while inside homosexual populations, men and women have the same prevalence of the diseases.